Insider redux
With the sequel to the Bergen Insider's surprisingly controversial first-edition hitting mailboxes recently, I was curious to see whether anything in the new monthly would validate the claims of at least one commenter on this blog that the paper is nothing but a front for the Bergen Party Democratic machine and a mouthpiece for its favored representatives in the Township Council's majority. A careful reading of the December issue does little to confirm those suspicions.A bland news article on the "Pathways to the Future" report seemed to serve no particular political agenda, nor did the editorial urging residents to consider the points raised in the report and get involved. A comprehensive full-page listing of Teaneck's municipal salary ranges will do little to rally support for current elected officials. The only place one might detect that the paper gave the Council a pass is in the article entitled "A Proposal to Put a Parking Lot in Brett Park" (aren't news headlines supposed to contain verbs?). Rather than acknowledge the broad opposition to the Mayor's Brett Park plan, the Insider writes only that the proposal has "evoked the opposition of local and area environmentalists like the Sierra Club." Still, the article devoted plenty of space to the opinions of various dissenters to the plan.
If the Insider is a biased publication funded by a group seeking to subtly influence public opinion, it does a very good job of obscuring that- perhaps too good, as whatever influence may be lurking beneath is too subtle to be detected. All the second issue of the Insider reflects is a more upbeat approach to Township affairs, consistent with its stated purpose. Count me as unconvinced that this publication has any agenda beyond earning advertising dollars and increasing communal awareness and involvement, until more evidence to the contrary can be produced.
posted by Teaneck Blog @ 10:58 AM
8 Comments:
Without a discernable bias, the Insider is not worth reading at all. Since it only comes out once a month, the news it reports is thoroughly stale by the time of its publication.
The Insider would be much more interesting if it were an online newspaper that published stories in real time and permitted instant feedback. While an online newspaper is not unlike a blog, it retains the imprimatur of actual news media rather than merely a soap box for the opinions of cranky individuals.
Yes, one questions the wisdom of launching a monthly print newspaper in an era when consumers are accustomed to accessing information much faster. That said, there may be room in the market for a quality publication that would produce more in-depth features including interviews and human interest stories, though the Insider does not seem to be headed that way.
It would be far harder to launch and sustain a real online newspaper- try selling advertising without the hook that the publication will be mass mailed to every home within a 6 mile radius.
In the Brett story, it is interesting that they refer to "restaurant modifications". That gives the impression that it was just some alterations. The restaurant was knocked down and a new one built 3 times the size of the old one. The picture that they use is a picture of the parking lot on River Rd. Which gives the reader the impression that the park is already paved over. It doesn't show you where the new proposed lot would be in lower Brett. That story was hatched out of the County Dem's unoffical headquaters.... at the New Bridge Inn.
It more like the All New Bergen Hunt Club.
Issue #2 is leaps and bounds ahead of the debut issue. Perhaps responding to some of the criticism online and elsewhere, this issue seems to take far greater effort at providing some measure of balance.
And I must agree that as painfully long as the Suburbanite's week-long news cycle can be, waiting a month between issues makes the Insider a far less useful publication.
My far greater concern is that the initial issue seems to be a far more potent augury of what may be to come down the road. Though the Insider may have the press credentials that our cozy little online world lacks, we still have no idea whose imprimatur is on this paper. While Beverly O'Shea is listed as Editor -- and has the local credentials to back up her role -- we still have been given no idea of the identity of the business and political leaders who were described in the Editorial in the first issue as being behind the creation of this paper.
There certainly is a place for a new newspaper in town and the Suburbanite is still far from perfect in its de facto role as Teaneck's newspaper of record.
Yet, until such time as we have full disclosure of the new paper's backers, it will be impossible to accurately evaluate the role that the Insider should play in shaping local opinion. While the printed editions it produces may seem less ephemeral than our blog posts and appear to speak with a voice of greater authority, the Insider may still be "merely a soap box for the opinions of cranky individuals". Just now its cranky individuals with an unknown agenda and a big pile of money to subsidize the effort.
Alan Sohn
As Alan suggests, the interesting thing about the questions swirling around the Insider is that the publication pretty much invited the scrutiny through its cagey opening editorial. I wonder whether the Insider would have been greeted by as much skepticism if it had simply kept mum about its origins. But with that cat out of the bag, every issue the Insider touches will be closely examined from now on.
I couldn't agree more -- and judging by the initial issue's advertising, I have my suspicions. It isn't a credible paper without a full disclosed masthead.
I'm with mskj. The Bergen Insider isn't a newspaper at all, as there is no masthead and there is only one reporter, who is also the editor and the only contact person listed. I'd love to have a newspaper or a newsletter or something else equally current and credible, but the Bergen Insider isn't it.
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